The Latest on the 2020 campaign season (all times Eastern):
12:00 p.m.
New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker says he's "a little bit worried" about how the issue of reparations is being discussed during the presidential campaign.
Booker told people crowded into a barbershop in Rock Hill, South Carolina, that it's time to discuss the "persistent reality" of racism in this country, rather than worrying about how to handle a specific plan on reparations.
South Carolina holds the first southern primary and is the first place where candidates are tested by a primarily black democratic electorate.
Several candidates in the sprawling Democratic field have called out President Donald Trump as a racist, while others have voiced support for the idea of reparations for the descendants of enslaved black Americans.
Booker, who announced his candidacy at the start of Black History Month, has said its time to recommit to the fight for justice in America.
Booker is making his third trip to this early-voting state since announcing his presidential candidacy.
11:50 a.m.
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg (BOO'-tuh-juhj) is telling voters in South Carolina his candidacy might seem unlikely, but it may be time for the party's nominee to be a millennial from a red state.
The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, spoke to several hundred voters in Greenville. Buttigieg also will make stops Saturday in Columbia and Rock Hill. It's his first trip to South Carolina since he launched a presidential exploratory committee in January.
Buttigieg says as a millennial he has a greater stake in the future of the country and more urgency to tackle issues like climate change.
He acknowledged the more "traditional" route to the White House is to spend years in Washington before running. But he says the country "would be better served if Washington started looking more like our best-run cities."
He also says it "might not be such a bad thing if people from redder states" like South Carolina and Indiana were "some of the faces of Democratic values."
12:40 a.m.
Presidential contenders are spreading out across the country on Saturday as they try to find space in the crowded 2020 Democratic field.
Much of the candidate activity is focused on the early contest states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.
California Sen. Kamala Harris will host a rally at Texas Southern University, while former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke will campaign in South Carolina.
Later Saturday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a campaign rally in Los Angeles.
Back east, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has a pair of events in New Hampshire. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will also appear in the state Saturday.
Down south, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker will make campaign stops in South Carolina.
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
